Always wanted to learn how to use a lasercutter? After completing the Maker Skills Course, you're able to work with it in Waag's Fablab.
What are you going to learn?
In this course you will learn how to operate the laser cutter at the Fablab. After this course, you are allowed to use the laser cutter on Thursdays during the open days of the lab (10-17h, on appointment and depending on availability). The course consists of:
- How to prepare your file for laser cutting (vectors & images)
- How to use Lightburn (software used to operate the machine)
- What materials can you use
- Making something!
For this course you are expected to know how to create vector based files (DXF, SVG, etc.) in your preferred software (Inkscape, Illustrator or any other CAD software). Please bring a laptop with a trial version of Lightburn installed (can be downloaded). You don’t have to prepare a file to lasercut, but you can bring ideas.
Where and when?
The course is given at the Fablab in the Waag on the Nieuwmarkt 4 in Amsterdam on Friday December 9, 2022 from 14-17 hrs. Future dates to be determined.
For whom?
For makers who are looking for a place to experiment, create and meet like-minded people. Open source documentation is very important to us, so we expect you to write your own documentation on the use of the machine. If you can demonstrate that you know how to use the laser cutter safely, you are allowed to use it. This workshop is not aimed at people looking for commercial production; instead we want to enable local artists, designers and other creatives to develop open source projects.
Costs
The course is €75,- including taxes per person. There’s a capacity of 4-7 people. Materials, coffee and tea are included.
What's a Fablab?
A Fablab is a platform for education and innovation: a place to play, create, learn, guide and discover. Waag's Fablab is part of a worldwide community of students, teachers, technologists, researchers and makers in other labs. Because all Fablabs share their tools and processes communally, we are all building on a worldwide distributed lab for research and explorations.
The Fablab is not only a place for hackers and nerds who want to play with machines. It is a space where designers and artists collaborate towards new visions on open design and production technology. By granting access to 3D printers, lasercutters and other machinery that used to only be available for big manufacturers, consumers are enabled to make something by- and for themselves. For the Fablab, empowering a maker mindset is crucial. We do this, for example, through our yearly Fab Academy, a distributed programme of 20 weeks focused on digital fabrication and electronics.
